The design of the toothbrush has changed dramatically in recent years. Traditional toothbrushes amounted to little more that a brush mounted on a plastic stick. However, manufacturers are now offering the public a bewildering array of toothbrush designs offering features such as angled handles or heads, flexible shafts, wear-indication bristles, comfort-molded handles, and even toothbrushes which glow in the dark. Many of these modern toothbrush designs have met with great acceptance with the general public.
Unfortunately, the prior art toothbrush holders prevalent in many homes may not be equipped to properly hold such modern toothbrush designs. A typical prior art toothbrush holder, illustrated in FIG. 7, may comprise a porcelain, metal wood or plastic holder 701, typically wall mounted, with a plurality of holes 702 for holding toothbrushes. Unfortunately, holes 702 may be sized for the traditional toothbrushes, which, as noted above generally comprise a straight shaft and bristles.
The molded handles of modern toothbrushes may not fit properly into a prior art toothbrush holder. As illustrated in FIG. 7, if modern toothbrush 710 is placed in prior art toothbrush holder 701, only a small portion of the handle of modern toothbrush 710 may actually protrude through hole 702 in prior art toothbrush holder 701.
As a result, the bulk of the mass of modern toothbrush 710 may be well above toothbrush holder 701 and thus be unstable. If accidently jostled, modern toothbrush 710 may fall onto the floor, accumulating germs, bacteria and dirt. In marine and RV applications in particular, the motions of a boat or RV may cause modern toothbrush 702 to become dislodged from a prior art toothbrush holder 701. Such a situation is unsanitary and contrary to good oral hygiene.
Table I is a list of popular modern toothbrush designs tested by the inventor with prior art toothbrush holders. The list in Table I is provided for the purposes of illustration to enhance understanding of the present invention and by no means is a exhaustive list of modern toothbrush designs as discussed above. Moreover, new toothbrush designs are continually introduced. The toothbrush holder of the present invention may be applied to older type, modern, and future toothbrush designs. In general, the term "modern toothbrush" as used for the purposes of this application, refers to any toothbrush or the like having a relatively large handle, narrower neck, and a head larger than the neck.